Electric clock mechanism.



LE GRAND 0. BUSH. ELECTRIC cnocx; MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 27, 1909. M1,O51,553, Patented Jan. 28, 1913.

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LE GRAND G. BUSH.

ELECTRIC CLOCK MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.27, 1909.

Patented Jan. 28, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2v WITNESSES LE GRAND C. BUSH.

ELECTRIC CLOCK MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 27, 1909.

1,051,553, Patented Jan. 28, 1913.

5 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITNESSES: 4 2 IN NW2 couJMBn. PLANOORAPH lo-,WASHNOTDN. D- c.

LE GRAND G. BUSH.

ELECTRIC CLOCK MECHANISM.

APPLIGATION FILED AUG. 27, 1909.

1,051,553. Patented Jan.28, 1913.

4 SHBETSSHEET 4.

IN VEN TOR Lg I WITNESSES: Z Z

A TTORNE Y LE GRAND C. BUSH, OF ELKHART, INDIANA.

ELECTRIC CLOCK MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 28,1913.

Application filed August 27, 1909. Serial No. 514,874.

To all echo 1n it may concern Be it known that 1, Ln Gnxxn C. BUSH, acitizen of the United States, residing at Elkhart, county of Elkhart,and State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and usefulInn'n'ovement in Electric Clock Mechanism, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to electrically actuated and controlled clockmechanism, and especially to that class of devices which are designed toovercome the objectionable features present in a spring or weightactuated clock, and has for its object to provide a clock mechanism tosupply electrical power at regular intervals for operating mechanicaldevices, such as time stamps, recording door locks, secondary clocks,etc., and has for its further object to provide a pendulum which will bemoved by the fall of a weight. the latter being raised at regularintervals by nmgnetic attraction, and has for its further object toprovide invariable power for the movement of the clock train, and hasfor its further object to provide electrical contacts, and automaticmeans for making and breaking said contacts, the electrical mechanismbeing intermittently IGD' dered operative by the movement of means of adetent.

My means of accomplishing the foregoing may be more readily understoodby having reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 isa side elevation of my improved device, the upper plate and certainelectrical connections being omitted for the sake of clearness, theclock train being indicated in broken lines. Fig. 2 is an underplan viewof the same, the plate and clock train being shown in position. Figs. 3and 1 are fragmentary detail views showing the mechanism for actuatingelectrical devices at regular intervals. Figs. 5 and 6 are fragmentarydetails of the operating mechanism for the movement of the clock train.Figs. 7 and 8 are diagrammatic views, showing the wiring diagram duringthe completion and breaking of the circuit.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views.

As shown in the drawings, my device is mounted between plates 1 and 2,and consists of a pair of electromagnets 3 and t, a pendulum rod 5 whichswings upon a pin or pivot 6 and which is secured in position of theextension by means of two bolts 7 and 8. The pendulum rod 5 is providedwith two lateral extensions 9 and 10 which are provided with upturnedflanges 11 and 12, in each of which is mounted a contact screw 13secured in place by a lock nut 14 or in any other usual and convenientmanner. It is obvious that. by adjusting the screws 13, the time ofcompletion of the electric contacts, or connections, may be regulated.These connections may also be regulated by means of the screw 5 and slot9*.

15 is a binding post which is provided with suitable insulation 16separating it from the metal plate 1, the binding post 15 has extendeddownwardly therefrom, the member 17, the outer end of which is providedwith a flat spring 18 adapted to contact with the contact screw 13, inthe lateral extension 10 of the pendulum rod 5 at the extreme of theswing. A screw 19 is provided adjacent to the pivot 6 of the pendulumrod and is provided with a wire 20 which is adapted to contactcontinually with the pendulum rod 5, thereby providing a ground, withoutthe electrical current having to go through the moving pivot 6. Aweighted lever 21, which is pivoted upon a pivot pin 22, suitablyjournaled in a plate 23, which is secured in position by screws 24 and25, or in any other suitable or convenient: manner, is located adjacentthe polar extremities E26 and .27 of the magnetic coils 3 and 4.

The weighted lever 21 is formed of material which is capable of beingattracted by the magnetic lines of force of the electromagnets and 4when they are energized. The outer end of the lever 21 is provided witha downwardly extending lug 27 which is provided with a pivot pin 28,from which depends a pawl 29, the lower end of which engages the teethof a ratchet wheel 30, the pawl being held in engagement with the teethby means of a coil spring 31, and an extension 33 is secured to thelever 21 by means of screw 34, the outer end of this extension beingforked or bifurcated as at 35, and has a roller 36 rotatably mountedupon a bearing 37 secured to the forked end The roller 36 is inengagement with the upper edge of the lateral extension 9 of the rod 5.A weight 38 is secured to the extension 33, the lower end of which isprovided with a shoulder 39 the weight being adapted to engage a detent40,

which operates to hold the lever 21 up after the electrical circuit hasbeen broken. The shoulder 39 is beveled for the purpose of causing thedetent to form a perfect contact with the flat spring 43, as clearlyseen in Fig. 1. This detent is formed in the shape of a bell crank leverand is mounted upon a pivot 41. The upper end 42 of the detent 40 isadapted to contact with a flat spring 43 secured in a binding post 44 towhich the electrical current passes from the magnet 4 through the wire45. The other end 416 of the detent 40 is considerably longer than theend 42, so that it will oter balance and hold the end -12 in the properposition to engage the shoulder 39 of the weight 38, thereby holding itup after the circuit is broken. An adjustable stop memher or arm 47 isprovided for the purpose of regulating the movement of the detent 40, soas to time its engagement with the weight properly. The shaft 18. towhich is secured the ratchet wheel 30. has a gear -19 secured thereonand adapted to engage with the first of a series of gears 50, 51 andthereby transmitting motion to the hour shaft 53. A detent (34 issecured to the screw 25 to prevent backward movement of the ratchetwheel 30. That portion of the device which furnishes electrical currentintermittently to operate other devices such as locks, etc, is moreclearly shown in detail views Figs. 3 and l in which a cam 51 is shownmounted upon. the shaft +18 and is provided with a shoulder 55, twospring fingers 57 and 56, the latter of which is shorter than theformer, rest upon the face of the cam 54 and are elevated by theshoulder once during each rev lution of the cam 54. The spring finger 56is connected to the battery, not shown, tl'irough the medium of abinding post 58, while the finger 57 is connected through the medium ofa binding post 59. A fiat spring 60 is provided, its outer end engagingthe finger 56, when the finger 57 drops off the cam shoulder 55, thusbreaking the circuit. hen the cam reaches the point in its rotationwhere the shoulder deviates the spring fingers, it is apparent that thefinger 57 will drop before the finger 56 can drop thereby breaking thecircuit. As shown, this make and break occurs once in each revolution ofthe cam it will be apparent to a person skilled in the art. that anydesired number of shoulders for making and breaking the circuit may beprovided for if desirable.

The operation of the device is as follows: As shown in Fig. 1, thependulum 5 is swinging to the left in the direction indicated by thearrow. It will be obvious that when it reaches the extremity of itstravel, that the contact screw 13 will engage the flat spring 18 and theelectric circuit will be closed which can be more clearly followed byhaving reference to the wiring diagrams Figs. 7 and 8. Asdiagran'nnatically shown in Fig. 7, the contact screw 13 completes thecircuit by coming into contact with flat spring 18. The current flowsfrom the battery 62 through the wire a into the magnet 3, thence itpasses into the magnet i through the wire a into the binding post 44,through the flat spring 43 into the detent 40 by the contact point 42.which is connected to a wire 63, provided for conveying the current intothe plate 1. whence it travels as shown by the dotted arrows to the wire20 and into the pendulum rod 5, through the lateral extension 10 andcontact screw 13, into the flat spring 18. thence through the rod 17,binding post 15, through the wire a and into the battery 62. It will beapparent from the foregoing description that the instant the contact iscompleted, the magnets 3 and t, becoming energized, operate to raise theweighted lever 21, which lifts the spring pressed pawl Q sufficiently toengage the next adjacent upper tooth of the ratchet wheel 30. and theraising of this lever permits the arm 46 of the detent 40 to movedownwardly and causes the detent 40 to engage the under side of theshoulder 39 of the weight 38, thus holding the weighted lever in upperposition as shown in the dotted lines in Fig. 6, and this movement ofthe detent operates to move the contact point 42 out of engagement withthe flat spring 43 so that the circuit is already broken before thependulum moves out of contact with the flat spring 18. It will beapparent from the foregoing description that the instant this current isbroken, the magnets and cease to attract the weighted lever 21 and itwould fall were it not for the fact that it is engaged by the detent l0.

'hen the pendulum swings to its eX- tremc rightward position, thecontact screw 13 pushes the detent 40 from under the shoulder 39 of theweight 38 thereby causing the point 42 to contact with the fiat spring43, in which position it is held by the right hand vertical surface ofthe shoulder 89 of the weight 38, and as the pendulum swings backleftward, the weighted lever 21 assumes the position shown in Figs. 1and 6, while the wheel 38 rolls downward along the top edge of thelateral extension 9. This downward movement operates to advance theratchet wheel 30 one tooth, as the pendulum in its travel completes thecircuit, and the magnets are again energized and the foregoing operationis repeated. The action of the roller 36, pressed by the weight 38 onthe cam surface 9', assists and hastens the leftward movement of thependulum and supplies motive force therefor. This cam also prevents thesudden dropping of the lever when released by the detent 42. Thus theclock mechanism is propelled through the medium of the spring pressedpawl 29, engaging the teeth of the ratchet wheel 30 causing it torotate.

In clocks of ordinary construction, the power is usually applied bymeans of a main spring, or by other means, directly to the comparativelyslow speed shaft, which carries the dial hands; and a retardingmechanism is employed to engage the teeth of the relatively fast speedescapement wheel. In such construction, the continual and excessivepressure of the main spring causes considerable friction on the spindlesand teeth of the various gear wheels and on the teeth of the escapementwheel. In the present invention, the motive power is applied to therelatively fast speed wheel, and having no main spring or escapement, itis obvious that there is no friction due to such elements, and theetiiciency and life of the clock is greatly increased by the eliminationof such friction and consequent wear. It will be obvious to personsskilled in the art that the foregoing construction operates to avoidusing the same contact point to complete the circuit which breaks it,which is a very desirable feature of the invention, inasmuch as it getsaway from the danger of an arc and its tendency to corrode the metalcaused by the spark thus formed and at the same time leaves a pendulummovement almost entirely free from friction, be-

sides the arrangement being such that the fall of the weight 38 operatesto hold the contact point 42 securely against the flat spring until itis broken by the further operation of the device.

Having described my invention what I regard as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is,

1. The combination of a plate, a dial train comprised of a plurality ofgears, a pendulum, electromagnets, a weighted lever having means securedthereto for directly engaging and moving a member of the dial train,said magnets operating to lift said weighted lever, means to hold saidlever up when the circuit is broken, means to cause the swinging of thependulum to detach said means from engagement with the weighted lever,the swing of the pendulum operating intermittently to completeelectrical connections and energize the magnets, and means to regulatethe time of com pletion of the said connection.

2. The combination of a plate, dial train comprised of a plurality ofgears, a pendulum, electromagnets, a weighted lever adapted to move thependulum mechanically by its fall, said magnets operating to lift saidweighted lever, the swing of the pendulum operating intermittently tocomplete electrical connections and energize the magnets, separate meansto break the electrical circuit when it has been completed, a detent tohold the weighted lever up after the circuit is broken, means to causethe pendulum to disengage said detent, means to prevent the suddendropping of the lever after the detent is disengaged.

3. The combination of a plate, dial train comprised of a plurality ofgears, a pendulum provided with lateral extensions, contact screwsmounted at the extremity of said lateral extensions, the electromagnets,a weighted lever horizontally disposed above and adjacent the polarextremities of said magnets, a spring pressed pawl depending downwardlyfrom said weighted lever, a ratchet wheel, a shaft upon which saidratchet wheel rotates, the teeth of said ratchet wheel being engaged bylower extremiy of the spring pressed pawl, a weight secured to saidlever, a shoulder on said weight, a detent adapted to engage saidshoulder and prevent the dropping of the lever when the electricalcircuit is broken, means on one of said lateral extensions to preventthe sudden dropping of the lever when the detent is disengaged.

LE GRAND G. BUSH.

Witnesses RUTH FRANKs, ERNEST SELLAns.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

